Mount Zion Abbey (german: Berg Sion) is a

Premonstratensian The Order of Canons Regular of Prémontré (), also known as the Premonstratensians, the Norbertines and, in Britain and Ireland, as the White Canons (from the colour of their habit), is a religious order of canons regular of the Catholic Church ...

nuns' abbey in the

municipality A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate. The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...

Gommiswald Gommiswald is a municipality in the ''Wahlkreis'' (constituency) of See-Gaster in the canton of St. Gallen in Switzerland. On 1 January 2013 the former municipalities of Rieden and Ernetschwil merged into the municipality of Gommiswald.

in the

canton Canton may refer to: Administrative division terminology * Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland * Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French Arts and ent ...

of St. Gallen in

Switzerland ). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...

. It is designated as part of the

Inventory of Swiss Heritage Sites The Federal Inventory of Heritage Sites (ISOS) is part of a 1981 Ordinance of the Swiss Federal Council implementing the Federal Law on the Protection of Nature and Cultural Heritage. Sites of national importance Types The types are based on t ...

.ISOS site
accessed 07-Jan-2010 The Abbey was built on scenic rocky spur above the Gaster valley in 1761 by the priest Joseph Helg. It was built along a

pilgrimage A pilgrimage is a journey, often into an unknown or foreign place, where a person goes in search of new or expanded meaning about their self, others, nature, or a higher good, through the experience. It can lead to a personal transformation, aft ...

route from the churches on

Lake Constance Lake Constance (german: Bodensee, ) refers to three Body of water, bodies of water on the Rhine at the northern foot of the Alps: Upper Lake Constance (''Obersee''), Lower Lake Constance (''Untersee''), and a connecting stretch of the Rhine, ca ...

Einsiedeln Abbey Einsiedeln Abbey (german: Kloster Einsiedeln) is a Benedictine Catholic monastery in the village of Einsiedeln in the canton of Schwyz, Switzerland. The abbey is dedicated to Our Lady of the Hermits, in recognition of Meinrad of Einsiedeln, a he ...

. The Loretto Chapel was built in 1763-65. A year after the chapel was completed three sisters moved from

Schussenried Abbey Schussenried Abbey (''Kloster Schussenried'', ''Reichsabtei Schussenried'') is a former Catholic monastery in Bad Schussenried, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. It is famed for its Baroque architecture, Baroque library hall. The abbey was established ...

in Germany to the new Abbey. The Abbey's farms and private donations supported the residents and allowed it to grow rapidly and by 1778 there were 52 sisters living there. The unique longitudinal main building grew organically through several expansion projects. Following the 1798 French invasion, the creation of the

Helvetic Republic The Helvetic Republic (, , ) was a sister republic of France that existed between 1798 and 1803, during the French Revolutionary Wars. It was created following the French invasion and the consequent dissolution of the Old Swiss Confederacy, ma ...

and then the Canton of St. Gallen in 1803, the Abbey went into decline. Under the Republic and the new Canton they lost many of their farms and were sometimes forced to billet troops. It rebounded between 1846-76 under the leadership of the matron Gertrude Hüsler from Steinhausen and confessor Benedict Frey from Wettingen Abbey. By 2000 there were 18 nuns living in the Abbey, under the

Bishop of St. Gallen The Catholic Diocese of Saint Gallen ( la, Diœcesis Sancti Galli) is a Catholic diocese in St. Gallen, Switzerland. The diocese was created in 1824 but united with the episcopal see of Chur until 1847. Much of the territory had earlier been ...

References

External links

Pictures and text (in German) about the Abbey
{{Coord, 47.24237, N, 9.02299, E, display=title, region:CH-SG Premonstratensian monasteries in Switzerland Buildings and structures in the canton of St. Gallen